European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 09, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes Friday september 9, 1977 Lytfi realize that if this treaty is George f. Will e our Panama ,. Latin America canal treaty should have careful study there Are occasions in politics when what is done is less important than the Rea sons Given or imputed for doing it. The vote Many months from now on the Panama canal treaty will be such an of  the terms negotiated the . Jurisdiction and military presence in the canal zone will end in the year 2000. Be cause the United states has the Legal right and sufficient military might to main Tain its position under the existing treaty the . Can argue that the new treaty is politically and financially  because of panamanian warnings about violence and the readiness of . Officials to cite the possibility of violence As a reason for negotiating the . Cannot so easily argue that the new treaty is magnanimous. Magnanimity is an option Only for those who Are and Are seen to be conf dent.. Negotiators should have recessed negotiations when panamanian officials began warning of violence. Because . Negotiators did not leave the table it is especially important that Senate Examina Tion of the treaty be stringent and unhurried. The . Owes Panama less than the consideration Panama already has  gratitude will accrue to the United states if it yields control of something that it is widely believed to control illegitimately. So the Only reason for yielding is that maintaining control might not be Worth the trouble. The controlling consideration should be the convenience of the ., not the rights of  panamanian nation like the Panama canal is a creature of . Con James Reston Carter dramatizing hemisphere there have been More Heads of government in Washington this week All of them from the Western hemisphere than at any other time since the funeral of president Kennedy in 1963. They Are Here at the invitation of president Carter who has a Clear purpose in  is trying to dramatize the fact that his Panama canal treaties Are not merely a concern of the United states and Panama but a fundamental Issue for All the trading nations of the  president has the Bright Hope that this gathering will stand As a revival of the spirit of Franklin Roosevelt s Good neigh Bor policy and president Kennedy s Alli Ance for Progress in this hemisphere. His Short Range strategy is to make Clear that the Panama Issue involves no less than the disruption of Washington s re lations throughout the hemisphere if not a guerilla War that would close the canal and to Force opponents of the treaty to face up to this looming question. But As he faces mounting foreign policy dilemmas in the Middle East Africa Asia and even in Europe his longer Range objective is to make sure that he has a More secure political economic and military base in the americas to steady him As he faces All these other troubles overseas. Carter does not have such a secure base just now. Even Canada is threatened with the secession of Quebec which would create alarming strategic problems for the defense of North America. And it is inter Esting that prime minister Trudeau is Hereford the signing of the Panama treaties. On Carter s Southern Border he is Strug gling with an invasion of illegal aliens who already outnumber the jobless 6.9 million in the United states. He has a Jungle of racial political and economic problems inthe Caribbean islands and specific differences with Cuba Brazil and other military dictatorships in South America. All this has confronted Carter with the problem of reconciling his Campaign promises with his presidential responsibilities. He committed himself Louisville nov. 23, 1975 never to support nations which stand for principles with which their people violently disagree and which Are completely antithetical to our  but the Panama treaties among other things have brought him to see that some times he has to support and even to seek the support of nations that violate the yearnings of their own Peoples and the principles of the United states. So he has been dealing Here this week with Omar Torrijos of Panama with the brazilian vice president Adalberto Pereiro Dos Santos and Paraguay s president Alfredo Stroessner Peru s president Francisco Morales Bermudez and Chile s president Augusto Pinochet Urgarte among others whose enthusiasm for car Ter s human rights philosophy is somewhat  Carter took them one by one for Long private discussions in the Whitehouse and argued that they had a common political dilemma. If he faced unto political opposition for Compromise in Panama Why could t they face up to the common problems of the hemisphere and relent a Little on human rights for their own people Jimmy Carter is not the first . President since the last world War who dreamed of the Western hemisphere As the last democratic Refuge in a distracted world. But sine the Panama crisis he seems to have been thinking increasingly about it in More serious and even personal  sent his wife on a diplomatic Mission not a tourist s trip to Jamaica Cost Arica Ecuador Peru Brazil Columbia and Venezuela. In the last few months Secretary of state Vance Secretary of the Treasury Blumenthal ambassador Andrew Young assistant Secretary of state Terence Todman Al Lowenstein of the . Delegation to the United nations and Patricia Derian the state department coordinator for human rights among others have been trying to restore Confidence in inter american relations. This is not a new idea. Roosevelt started it in the thirties. Lyndon Johnson went to Punta Del Este and talked about a common Market of the latin american nations supported by the United states. President Eisenhower sent vice president Nixon South on what proved to be a disastrous Mission. President Nixon sent Nelson Rockefeller to restore the relations be tween North and South but somehow the realities never measured up to the dreams or the slogans. Now Carter is trying again under the very difficult circumstances of Panama. He is trying to make Contact with Cuba while trying to get his Panama treaty through the Senate. And his opponents Are saying having abandoned Vietnam where will you Stop after Panama Why not Guantanamo Bay and then maybe Alaska and the Louisiana Purchase but Carter is handling the politics of the Panama treaties very adroitly. He is get Ting the military and the Republican Elderson his Side. He has the leaders of the entire hemisphere in Washington to support his policy and if they Are not overwhelmed by the financial problems of Bert Lance Andton Sun Park of Korea they May make a new Start on the old problem of hemispheric Unity. C new York times the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in to Way to be considered As representing the views of the Sta Sand stripes or the United states government. Vengence. If the canal is by right Panama a perhaps Panama should be returned to Colombia from which it seceded at the instigation of the United states. The anti treaty slogan there is no Panama canal there is an american canal at Panama is not the Only inanity in the argument. The fact that the joint chiefs of staff endorse the treaty that their com Mander in chief endorses is not interest ing let alone decisive. Having seen the docility of the chiefs concerning strategic arms proposals senators must know that Security considerations Are too important to entrust to senior officers who serve at the pleasure of presi  fact that the United states has on paper and perhaps on water a two Ocean Navy is not a compelling reason for yield ing control of the canal. Nor is the fact that the largest . Military and merchant ships aircraft carriers and heavy Oil tank ers cannot pass through the canal. It is Folly for advocates of the treaty to Deni grate the canal s  More serious argument is that the canal could be seriously damaged by a few saboteurs so it is prudent for . Policy to give Panama a Large stake including responsibility and revenues. Presumably panamanians like egyptians can run a canal efficiently. The prob Lem is assuring equity. Egypt has discriminated against israeli shipping and the treaty with Panama would be Only a Parchment Barrier against political abuses. But there would be . Force behind the , it was one thing to cede control of Okinawa a leftover bit of the second world War to the stable Friendly demo cratic japanese. It is something else to cede a militarily and commercially important canal to an unpleasant regime of Uncertain longevity and inclinations. Furthermore in politics and especially in diplomacy perceptions matter. To some extent things Are what they seem to be. Today the United states seems to itself and to others very different than it was when negotiations with Panama began 13 years ago. The negotiations have come to fruition after Vietnam and a general loss of Confidence and at a moment when the . Has resolved to withdraw its troops from Korea and has become less than Resolute about its commitment to Taiwan. So president Carter s task is to persuade americans and others that ratification of the treaty should not be regarded As a facet of a general Retreat. Carter inherited the negotiations and the general shape of the outcome. The fight for ratification will diminish his popularity and defeat a real possibility would diminish his stature. It in t fair but As has been said life is unfair. C Washington Post you cont fight fire with gasoline